Fact Check | Madison County’s vague ‘emergency alert’ early morning message

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - Dozens of Madison County residents took to social media this morning after a vague emergency alert on their phones woke them up.

The 4:33 a.m. alert simply said there was a local area emergency and to monitor radio and TV for more details.

WKYT did some fact checking on the alert and what happened.

• The alert came from the Madison County Emergency Management Agency which received a request to issue a Golden Alert for a missing adult from the county’s sheriff office.
• The county’s Emergency Alert System sends alerts to television, radio, and cell phones in a designated area.
• The department says the message sent through to people’s phones “came through incomplete and did not contain details” leading to the early morning confusion.
• In an apology to those woken up with little reason why, the agency said it will continue to investigate the partial message. “Madison County EMA’s investigation in this situation will continue until we are confident that appropriate solutions have been enacted, tested, and proven acceptable for protecting our community,” the agency wrote on its Facebook page.

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